COMING up at Hereford Courtyard this month is what promises to be a real treat.

Thatcher The Musical caused large ripples across the theatrical scene when it opened last year and the reviews for this all-female Foursight Theatre production have been predominantly positive.

The show drops into Hereford for three nights from February 19-21.

The company has built a reputation for its original work, based on serious research and imagination and you may have caught their earlier tours of Hecuba and Six Dead Queens in Hereford.

The creative process for Thatcher began in 2003 when Patrick Morris was commissioned to provide a portfolio of materials about Margaret Thatcher's life. From it the decision was made to let the first female prime minister speak for herself.

"If you were hoping for a one-sided demolition of the Iron Lady then this musical will disappoint," said artistic director Naomi Cooke. "If you're willing to probe deeper, refrain from a simplistic attack and begin to wrestle with the human being as well as the politician then I think this piece gives plenty to think about."

In what is described as a high energy piece of theatre - entertaining whatever your political persuasion', the company hopes to appeal to both right and left wing political persuasions as they perform neither a hatchet job nor a celebration.

With song titles like Cabinet Shuffle, I've Got The Urge To Purge and Tory Blues, you can tell you're in for a night of rollicking good humour - which is, after all, the mainstay of this creative band.

With nine different cast members portraying one Maggie at different points in her rise to fame, the hair and handbag are at the fore, but it's not all about laughs.

"The show asks the audience to think about the way they want their leaders to behave, what sort of a world they want to live in, and what they are going to do about it - and if people are talking politics, then I believe theatre is doing its job," Naomi said.

Tickets for Thatcher The Musical are available on 0870 1122330.